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l(No Model.)- 4 ShesetJs-QSheet 1. H. B. MURDOCK. ELEVATOR HATHWAY COVER.

N0. 599,857. Patented Mar. l, 1898.

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4 Sheets- Sheet 3. H. B. MURDOGK.

BLEVATOR HATCHWAY COVER.

Patented Mar. 1, 1898.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets- Sheet 4.

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A BLEVATOR HATCH-WAY COVER. N0. 599,857. .Patented Mar. l, 1,898..`

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORACE B. MURDOCK, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE ANDER- SON SAFETY ELEVATOR COMPANY, LIMITED, OF SAME PLACE.

vELEVApTOR-HATCHWAY COVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 599,857, dated March 1, 1898.

Application iiled February 8, 18.96. Renewed February 13, 1897. Serial No. 62 3,315. (No model.)

ful Improvements in Ele vator-Hatchway Cov-v ers, of which the following is a specification,

reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to that class of hatchcovers which are automatically deposited by the elevator-cab to close the openings in the floors after the passage of the cab and wherein one set of covers is carried beneath the cab and will be'deposited in the opening as the cab ascends, and another independent set is carried on top of the cab and will bedeposited in the opening as the cab descends.

The .object of my invention is to furnish improved means for operating such hatchcovers and which are in the nature of an atltachment adapted to be applied to any style of elevator and work equally well whether the elevator moves fast or slow and without creating noise. l

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and operation of carrying-latches which form the means for carrying the hatch-covers of the lower set beneath the cab; further, of supportinglatches located in the hatch-openings, by which the covers are supported thereon, and, further, in certain devices for tripping the carrying-latches, all as more fully hereinafter described, and shown in the drawings.

Figure'l is a diagram section showing an elevator to'which my invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a diagram plan thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view of the platform of the cabin one of the hatch-openings in the elevator-shaft. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section substantially on line a: x in Fig. 2, illustrating the operation of the device. Fig. 5 is an elevation of one of the supporting-latches in the hatch-opening. Fig. 6 is a vertical section thereof on line y y in Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and '7a are horizontal sections thereof on line c o in Fig. 5 and illustrating the device as in supporting a cover of the lower and upper set, respectively. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of one of the supporting-latches, illustratingthe same as in use. Figs. 9, 10, 1l, and 12 show the construction of the carrying-latches for supporting the lower set of hatch-covers and representing the same in different elevations and in vertical section, respectively.

In the drawings my invention is shown as applied to an ordinary freight-elevator of known construction, in which A represents the cab; A', its platform; B, the hoisting-rope, and C the hatch-opening, through which the cab passes through the iioors.

D refers to the lower set of hatch-covers, and D to the upper set. Both sets can be made alike, except that the covers of the upper set must have a central aperture for the hoisting-rope to pass through. These covers may be of any suitable construction that will combine strength with lightness and render them reproof. Those shownin the drawings consist of light metallic tubular frame-bars a, connected by corner-brackets a toy form rectangular frames adapted to the openings in the floors and filled with asbestos, sup,

ported by strong wire-netting, all of known construction and forming no part of my invention. As many of these covers as there are hatch-openings to be covered in the elevator-shaft are provided for each set, those of the upper set being supported one above the other on top of the cab, and those of the lower set are suspendedrfrom below the platform ofthe cab when not in position in the hatch-opening. To this end the cab is provided with four carrying-latches E for each cover, which are secured near the corners of the cab, on opposite sides thereof, and which are adapted to support the covers one below the other. The construction of these carrying-latches is shown in detail in Figs. 9, 10, ll, and 12 and is as follows:

Within a hanger-frame e, secured at its upper end to the platform Aand extending vertically below thereof, is pivotally secured at e the hook latch-bar e2, provided with a shoulder es and a curved guide e4 below the same. This hook is normally held in projected position, as shown in Fig. 9, by means of a spring e5 and is adapted to be retracted within the frame by a trip-lever e6, pivotally secured at e7 and having a slotted arm engaging a pin e8 in a slot of the hook in which the trip-lever IOO works, all so arranged that. if any downward pressure is brought upon the outwardly-projecting arm of the trip-lever the hook is retracted. The frame e of the latch projects below the hook and forms an inclined guide e, and over the upper portion of the latch is preferablysecured a protecting-shield @10. As there are as many latches at each of the four corners of the cab-platform as there are covers to be supported, I preferably place the latches at each corner side by side and unite the different frames thereof into one common frame, Figs. 9, l0, ll, and l2 of the drawings showing two latches united and with their hook-bars at such relative distance below each other and below the car-platform as to give space for two covers. In the same manner additional covers are supported to the required number. For supporting these covers upon the shoulders e3 of the latch-hooks the covers are provided correspondingly therewith with supporting-rollers d, secured in any suitable manner to the frame-bars, and to avoid noise in the operation of the device these rollers are preferably of compressed fiber or other noise-deterring medium, and, if desired, the shoulders e3 of the latches, upon which these rollers are adapted to engage, may be covered with rubber or leather. In this manner the elevator-cab in its upward journey carries the covers, and each cover is successively released at the proper opening from its carrying-latches in the operation of the device by. means of stops F, secured to the combing` in the hatch-opening and projectin g into the path of the trip-levers of the carrying-latches. Thus there will be four of such stops in each hatch-opening, the one in the lowest opening registering with the triplevers of the lowest cover, the one in the cover next above registering with the trip-levers of the cover next above from the lowest, and so on to the top, each set of stops in the hatchway being thus out of the way of all the tripping-levers of the covers not belonging to it and operating only upon its particular cover. As each hatch-cover in the travel of the cab is thus released from the cab it is immediately held fast in position in the opening by means of the supporting-latches Gr, of which Jthere are four for each cover located in each hatch-opening. The construction and operation of these supporting-latches are shown in Figs. 4E, 5, G, 7, and Sand will now be more fully described in detail.

IVithin a suitable housing f ,which is adapted to secure the su pportin g-latch in the hatchopenings, is pivotally secured at g a jointed latch-bar composed of two parts g2 g3, connected at or near the middle by a hinge-joint gt This latch-bar is retained at its upper end within the housing bv means of a pin g5 passing through a slot Q6 in the upper end of the latch-bar, and it is maintained in the normal position (shown in Fig. C) by means of a suitable spring Q7. In the face of this latchbar at the joint is formed a recess g8, formed with rounded corners. Above and below this recess the latch-bar is provided with inclined guiding-faces g gw, the former one of which forms the inclined shoulder gn.

To make the latch in operation noiseless, a recess is formed at the hinge con nection between two overlapping portions of the latchbars, in which a piece of rubber (/12 is secured, which forms the lower shoulder of the recess. The latch being constructed and arranged in this manner, it operates as follows: Each hatch-opening has tou r of these latches, supported near the corners upon opposite sides and with the recess g8 of the latch-bar in the proper position to receive the hatchcover at the very point at which it is released from the cab by the tripping of the carryinglatches. To this end all the covers of the lower set are provided alike near the corner with the rollers d?. and corresponding therewith a like roller a2 is also correspondingly placed upon the side of the platform, as shown in Fig. 3. All these rollers a2 are in vertical line with each other and with the latch-bars of the supporting-latches in the different hatch-openings, and in the operation of the device the hatch-covers are supported by the latches by means of these rollers d2 entering into the recesses g8 at the moment the carrying-latches of the cover are tripped.

Each set of latch-bars is prevented from latching any other cover but its own particular one by the operation of the guide-faces of the latch-bars. Thus when the cab is ascending it will be seen that the latch-bar is iirst depressed. into its recess in the housing by the uppermost roller a2 (which is on the platform) striking against its face gw, and it will remain depressed during the passage of all the covers (supposing there are a number) until the roller a2 of the last cover passes the guideface g1". At that moment the roller a2 next above it just passes off the inclined shoulder g, and thus frees the latchbar which7 compelled by its spring, moves outwardly and receives the roller a2 of the last cover in the recess, and, as before described, at the Very same moment the cover is also released from the eab, and it will thus remain in the hatch-opening supported by the latch-bars at the four corners. Thus one cover after another, beginning from the bottom up, will be placed in a hatch-opening as the cab ascends and be iirmly supported therein near the four corners by the four latches. Upon the eab going down again all the covers will be picked up again by the cab one after another in the following manner: Supposing there was no cover left under the cab, then the rollers a2 on the platform ofthe eab in going down will strike against the shoulder g11 of the latch-bars, depress the same, and thus free the cover from engagement with the notch of the latch-bar. At the same moment it will automatically rengage with its proper carrying -latches on the cab. This cover in succession will operate the set of IIO latch-bars .next below, thereby freeing anl safety I do not release the cover from its carrying-latches until it is fairly caught within the recess of the latch-bar, each cover being thus for the instant both held by its carryinglatches and by its supporting-latches both in the ascending and descending of the cab, and

to prevent any creation of noise in the piling up of the covers beneath the platform' when the cab descends I provide the covers at the corners with rubber or spring buffers as, which provide a slight vertical play of the cover and deadens the noise.

As regards the operation of the upper set of hatch-covers it is obvious that by supporting them on top of the cab, one on top of the other, the carrying-latches may be entirely dispensed with, and for supporting the hatchcovers of the upper set in the hatch-opening of the floors the same supporting-latches are used as for the lower set,-only theyare placed in the reverse position, as they have to lock the covers when the cab descends and unlock when the cab ascends. These supportinglatches G' for the upper set I preferably place beside the supporting-latches G and unite them into a common frame,land in connection therewith I provide the cover of the upper set with the rollers d4, which haveprecisely the same function as the rollers a2 and are placed at the corner-brackets and similarly arranged in vertical line with each other and-with the latches G'. The device for operating the upper set of hatch-covers in construction and operation is thus the same as those for the lower set, with the exception that the carrying-latches and operating devices' therefor are dispensedv with.

In my construction the dead-weight of the cab is only increased by the weight of one half of the covers, as the other half will always remain supported in the hatch-openings no matter what the position of the cab, and the fluctuations which occur in such weight during the operation by taking off one cover from one set and Vadding another of the other set will make no perceptible disturbance in the running of the elevator, and all noise created bythe operation of the parts is obviated. p

I am aware that it has been attempted heretofore to have the cab provided with devices for carrying the covers and locking them in the hatch-openings in the hatchway but this has been found objectionable in elevators having any degree of speed forreasons which need not be explained here, and my device is especially calculated to operate under all conditionsof speed.

As it is important in the operation of the device that the covers move in prescribed positions, which may be affected by the slight oscillations which ordinarily take place in the movement of the cab, I preferably provide within the hatch-opening the inclined guiderails H, which I preferably unite with or support inside the frame of the supporting-latches G G', as shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, and in connection therewith I place on the sides of the cab-platform suitable antifriction-rollers I, adapted to engage upon these guide-rails and thereby prevent oscillation of the cab in passing through the hatch-openings.

It is also obvious that those of the rollers a2 a4 which are secured to the cab itself may be'entirely dispensed with by using an eXtra cover below and above the cab. Y

What I claim as my invention is l. The combination with the elevator-car of a hatch-cover adapted to be supported in a hatch-opening of the elevator-shaft, carrying-latches depending from the platform of the cab and shouldered latch-bars loosely carried by the latches adapted to automatically engage with and support the cover beneath the platform, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the elevator-car of a hatch-cover and carrying-latches depending from the platform of the car and having shouldered latch-bars adapted to automatically engage with and support the cover and provided with tripping-levers adapted to disengage said latch-bars from the cover, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the elevator-cab, of a hatch-cover, carrying-latches depending ICO from theplatform of the cab and having shouldered latch-bars adapted to automatically engage with and support the cover', a trip-lever on each latch having an automatically-projecting arm, fixed stops in the path IIO of the tripping-levers and supporting-latches in the hatch-openin g having latch-bars adapted to automatically engage with and support the cover in the hatch-opening, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the elevator-cab, of a hatch-cover, carrying-latches depending from the` platform of the cab and having latch-bars adapted to automatically engage with and support the cover beneath the platform, supporting-latches in the hatch-openings having latch-bars for supporting the cover in the hatch-opening'and projections or rollers on the sides of the platform in line with and cooperating with said supporting-latches to disengage their latch-bars from the cover by the downward movement of the cab, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the elevator-cab, of ahatch-cover, carrying-latches adapted to automatically engage with and support the same below the platform of the cab, and trip- IZO levers to disengage the same from said carrying-latches, stops in the hatch-openings to operate said trip-levers, supporting-latches in the hatch-opening adapted to automatically engage with and support the cover in the Y hatch-opening and projections or rollers on the cab, cooperating with said supportinglatches to disengage the same from the cover in the downward movement of the cab, substantially as described.

6. The combination with the elevator-cab, of a hatch-cover such as D, provided with the supporting rollers d and a2, the carryinglatches E adapted to automatically engage with the rollers (l of said cover to support the same and provided with the trip-levers e6 to disengage said latch from the cover, the stops F in the hatch-openings adapted to trip the carrying-latches, the supporting-latches G in the hatch-openings provided with the recessed latch-bars adapted to automatically engage with the rollers CL2 to support the cover on the hatch-opening and the rollers d2 on the platform of the cab adapted to disengage the cover from the supporting-latches in the downward movement of the cab, substantially as described.

7 The combination in an elevator, of a hatch-cover and supporting-latches therefor in the openings of the hatchway, each supporting-latch being provided with a latch-bar having a recess g8 adapted to automatically engage with and support the hatch-cover upon one of the shoulders of the recess g8, substantially as described.

8. The combination in an elevator, of a supporting-latch for hatch-cover composed of the frame g, the jointed latch-bars g2 g3, the recess g8 being formed at the joint of the latchbar and the latch-bars having the guide-faces gw g, the latter having the shoulder g, substantially as described.

9. The combination with the elevator-cab and two sets of hatch-covers, one adapted to be carried beneath the platform of the cab and the other on top thereof, of rollers or projections on each cover at or near the corners thereof and with the corresponding rollers or projections on each set of covers in the same vertical line but different in the two sets and a set of supporting-latches in each hatchway for each set of covers, the supporting-latches of one set being in line with the corresponding rollers on one set of hatch-covers and those oi' the other set in line with the corresponding rollers or projections of the otherset of hatchcovers, the hatch-openings having recessed latch-bars adapted to automatically engage with and support the hatch-covers7 substantially as described.

l0. The combination with the elevator-cab, of carrying-latches dependent from the platform of the cab, a lower set of hatch-covers with which said carrying-latches are adapted to automatically engage to support said covers below the cab, means for tripping the carrying-latches in the hatch-openings,supportin glatches in the hatch-openings adapted to automatically engage with and support the lower set of covers in the hatch-openings, an upper independent set of hatch-covers supported on top of the cab, supporting-latches therefor adapted to automatically engage with and support the covers of the upper set in the hatch-openings independently of the lower set and rollers or projections on the hatch-covers and the cab adapted to cooperate with the supporting-latches to operate the same in the movement of the cab, substantially as described.

ll. The combination with an elevator-car, of ahatch-cover, the cover carrying means on the car comprising a series of frames, each frame having a pivoted latch-bar thereon, and means acting automatically for tripping the latch-bars, substantially as described.

l2. The combination with an elevator-car, of a series of hatch-covers, and a series of carrying-frames extending from the car, each frame being provided with a series of automatically-operating latch-bars, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses'.

HORACE B. MURDOCK. lVitnesses:

JAMES WHITTEMORE, 1l. MATTULLABLY. 

